Chapter 6

AISHA’S POV

I had already climbed far, but I was nowhere near the top.

I knew that the moment I stood by the tall window in the councilman’s estate, watching the city before me. I reminded myself that this view was temporary. Everything about this place was temporary. Including the man behind me.

“Come back to bed,” Councilman Roen said lazily. His voice was thick with sleep.

Bastard. He had no idea I was using him, huh?

I turned with a soft smile I had practiced for years.

“In a moment,” I replied sweetly. “I wanted to enjoy the morning, darling”

He liked that about me. That I seemed gentle and grateful for everything he’d done for me.

I hated him.

He was soft in every way that mattered. He was a high ranking council man but too hungry for validation. He was desperate to feel powerful. I guessed that’s why he liked young girls like me. He liked to parade me at gatherings, liked how other men looked at me, liked that he could say I belonged to him. I played my role perfectly. I laughed when he spoke. I touched his arm when he boasted. I listened as if his words mattered.

Inside, I stripped him down to his weaknesses piece by piece.

He was not my destination. He was a step.

I had learned young how power really worked. It wasn’t through strength alone, but through desire. You had to stroke their egos especially. Men wanted to be seen. They wanted to be admired. They wanted to believe they were chosen.

I gave them that illusion and took what I needed in return.

I did not stay where power was in one corner. I moved where it was forming.

That was why the whispers caught my attention.

It started at a private lunch with the noble women. Women leaned close as they whispered.

“Did you hear?” one of them murmured. “A savage rogue girl was dragged into the prestigious Academy.”

“They say she’s feral,” another added, laughing softly. “That the Alpha’s sons will break her.”

“She’ll be entertainment,” someone said. “Nothing more.”

I stirred my drink slowly, listening without reacting. But inside, my mind was spiraling.

The Academy. That was not a coincidence.

The Academy was not just a school. It was a proving ground. A place where future leaders were shaped, tested, and broken if necessary. And right now, something was changing there. I could feel it.

Then the names were spoken. Ken. Darren. Percy.

The Alpha brothers.

Even the room shifted when their names came up. Voices dropped. Smiles turned careful. Everyone knew them. They were the heirs of the most powerful pack alive. People said they were cruel. Others said they were fair but merciless. But they all agreed on one thing - one of them would dominate the future council.

And suddenly, everything became clear.

This was not about a rogue girl. This was about power being tested.

I sat back as my thoughts kept racing. The Academy was where the future was being decided. And if the triplets were there, then that was where I needed to be.

I did not want one Alpha. I wanted leverage over all three.

I imagined it easily. I’d be queen if I could get their attention. I knew how to do that. I’d spent my teenage years learning how to tempt men so I could get what I wanted.

The rogue girl meant nothing, whoever the hell she was. I would break her. All I needed was to get into the school.

Sadly, the Academy was for elite bloodlines. And I did not qualify…not on paper.

Once, I had been a rogue too. I was in a pack but I realized that I wanted more. So, I fought my way out. I survived by becoming useful, by becoming desirable.

That was how I ended up here as a kept mistress. I was what you could call a beautiful secret. It was humiliating, yes. But it was also temporary.

And I wanted more. So I made my move.

I forged documents late at night. I altered lineage records, inserted old names. I seduced information out of the right mouths, listened carefully, remembered everything. I flattered an admissions official until he felt important enough to overlook details. I subtly blackmailed another, letting him know I had copies of letters he would rather the council never saw. I leaked a quiet secret at the right time, forcing approval to avoid scandal.

By the time my name appeared on the acceptance list, it belonged there.

No one questioned it.

When I saw it, I smiled to myself in the mirror. This was what I did best.

I left the councilman without looking back. I didn’t even tell him goodbye. I didn’t care about him. He was just a means to an end. He would mourn, complain, and replace me within weeks. Men like him always did.

-

The Academy gates were so tall. The gates were filled with ancient symbols. The place was guarded by men who did not smile.

As I stepped onto the grounds, I felt the shift immediately. Power lived here. I could feel it inside me.

I took everything in. The guards and their patterns. The wards around the place,. The teachers who mattered and the ones who didn’t. The students who walked with confidence and the ones pretending to.

I masked myself perfectly.  Inside, I was already deciding who would fall first.

I joined a group of popular girls near the central courtyard. They welcomed me easily. I laughed when they laughed. I listened as they talked about rankings, alliances, and rumors.

“I heard the triplets barely speak to anyone,” one girl said. “Unless they want something.”

“That’s fine,” I replied “Everyone wants something.”

They smiled, not realizing how true that was.

Then I saw her. My breath caught. I had to make a double take to make sure I wasn’t dreaming or imagining things.

Zana.

I recognized her instantly. Only this time, she looked different. She looked cleaner, softer maybe, but it was her.

We had been in the same rogue pack. Her father had been the rogue king. She had always been powerful. I remembered Zana running free in ways I never could. I hated her for that.

This academy was for elites only.

What the hell was she doing here?